Acquisition, reuse and sharing of knowledge in property management firms

Abstract

Purpose

In the knowledge economy, the management of knowledge is important because the value of corporations and individuals is directly related to their knowledge and intellectual capital. This is especially true for real estate management, which is of increasing concern to the public and plays an important role in the property market today. This paper aims to show the nature of property professionals' acquisition, sharing and reuse of knowledge in their work.

Design/methodology/approach

To better understand the practices of knowledge management (KM) currently employed by property management firms, a study of the general practices of knowledge management in property management firms in Hong Kong was undertaken. This study described the notion of knowledge and knowledge management and investigated the norms of property professionals in acquiring, sharing and reusing knowledge in their daily practices. It also analyzed the relationship between size of firms and methods of knowledge acquisition and sharing. A questionnaire survey was conducted to study the opinions of professional property managers on the acquisition and reuse of knowledge and experience in their daily work. Questionnaires were sent to 103 PM firms with a response rate of 30 percent.

Findings

The survey results reveal that property managers mostly acquire their knowledge from the internet and newspapers. They also obtain knowledge from their colleagues and thus they are always important target persons with whom to share knowledge. In addition, property managers have close contact with professionals within and beyond their profession, allowing them to tap into and share knowledge across organizational boundaries. Although property managers are willing to share knowledge with others, there is no evidence to show that there are formal knowledge management strategies in PM firms. It seems that there is a need for explicit knowledge management strategies in property management, which could leverage their employees' knowledge assets.

Research limitations/implications

Past research that studied other types of knowledge workers may not be applicable to the unique nature of professionals working in the property management sector.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper is that it examines the practices of property professionals in acquiring, sharing and reusing knowledge in their daily practices which have not been studied systematically before. This paper also makes suggestions for improving knowledge‐managing strategies in this profession to prevent knowledge loss.

Citation

Fong, P.S.W. and Fung Lee, H. (2009), "Acquisition, reuse and sharing of knowledge in property management firms", Facilities, Vol. 27 No. 7/8, pp. 291-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/02632770910956148